Farmers Cleared in ELO Cellist Mike Edwards' Hay Bale Death

Musician was crushed in accident in September 2010

Cellist Mike Edward.

Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images

November 19, 2012 12:45 PM ET

Two farmers have been cleared of health and safety offenses after a giant bale of hay crushed former Electric Light Orchestra cellist Mike Edwards to death in September 2010, the BBC reports. Brian Burden, 46, and Russell Williams, 23, denied they had failed to make a proper risk assessment before the accident in Devon, England. Williams had been working on Burden's farm, baling up cut grass, and said he had left a bale "halfway down the field." Edwards was crushed to death in his van when the 1,300-pound bale landed on the vehicle. He was 62.

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Farmers Cleared in ELO Cellist Mike Edwards' Hay Bale Death